Rousseff to CPJ: 'Brazil committed to fighting impunity'

"The federal government is fully committed to continue
fighting against impunity in cases of killed journalists," Brazilian President
Dilma Rousseff told a CPJ delegation during a meeting on Tuesday in Brasilia,
the country's political capital. Accepting that deadly violence against the
media is a detriment to freedom of the press, Rousseff said her administration
will implement a mechanism to prevent deadly attacks, protect journalists under
imminent risk, and support legislative efforts to federalize crimes against
freedom of expression.

The meeting was part of a CPJ mission to Brazil to launch our
special
report, "Halftime for the Brazilian Press: Will justice prevail over
censorship and violence?" and meet with high-ranking officials in all branches
of the federal government and present them with concrete recommendations.
We are also meeting with members of the Brazilian press to express our concern
about the spike in murders
of journalists and the use of privacy laws
to silence the media.

The hour-and-a-half meeting with Rousseff took place at the
official workplace of the Brazilian president, known as the Palácio
do Planalto--a building designed by Oscar Niemeyer, inaugurated in 1960, and
located in the square of the three powers (Praça dos Três Poderes) with Congress
and the Supreme Federal Tribunal. Joining me were CPJ board member María Teresa Ronderos;
Ricardo Uceda, executive director of the regional press group Instituto Prensa
y Sociedad (IPYS) and member of the advisory group to CPJ's Americas program;
and Fernando Rodrigues, a prominent journalist with the national daily Folha de São Paulo, the UOL news portal,
and founding member of the Brazilian Association of Investigative Journalism (ABRAJI).

Murders of journalists, judicial censorship, and dozens of
press freedom violations during the massive anti-government protests that
started in June 2013 have led the Brazilian government to the realization that
the local
media landscape faces serious challenges. The gravity of the issue was
clear on Tuesday when Rousseff brought three cabinet ministers--Justice Minister
José Eduardo Cardozo, Human Rights Minister Ideli Salvatti, and Social
Communications Minister Thomas Traumann, the president's spokesman--to discuss
the CPJ report.

After our delegation presented our findings and hailed the
recent progress toward combatting impunity--convictions
have been obtained in four Brazilian journalists' murders since August-- and the
approval of Brazil's landmark
law on Internet rights, the Marco Civil da Internet, Rousseff took a few
minutes to talk about the street demonstrations that resulted in dozens of
journalists being detained, harassed, or attacked by law enforcement and by
protesters over the past year. Rousseff lamented the death of
cameraman Santiago Ilídio Andrade in early 2014 and said, "Interaction and
dialogue between law enforcement, media companies and journalists is key to
avoid more incidents." Cardozo said the government has started courses to train
police.

Rousseff also said her administration has the political will
to pursue a goal of "zero impunity" in journalists' murders. CPJ research shows
that at least 10 journalists have been murdered in direct
reprisal for their work since Rousseff came to power at the start of 2011,
while five others were murdered in unclear circumstances. Rousseff said she is
willing to speak publicly about progress in this field, and she committed to
addressing the issue during the United Nations General Assembly in September.

In terms of action to prevent further attacks on the press,
Rousseff and the ministers of justice and human rights said expansion of the national protection program
for human rights defenders explicitly to journalists under threat will be
implemented, but did not provide a time frame for its execution. Regarding
legal reforms that would federalize crimes against freedom of expression,
Rousseff said this is something Congress should debate, while Cardozo noted
that even without new legislation there are already instances in which federal
authorities can intervene in investigations into crimes against the press.

Later Tuesday, the launch of CPJ's report--organized by the
magazine and Web portal Imprensa as part of a forum
on democracy and freedom of expression at the Press Museum in Brasilia--was
attended by local journalists, free press advocates, and university students.
Today, our delegation will meet with Henrique Alves, president of the Chamber
of Deputies, the lower house of Brazil's Congress; and Brazilian Chief Justice
Joaquim Barbosa, with whom we will discuss judicial
censorship.

[Reporting from
Brasilia]

CPJ Senior Americas Program Coordinator Carlos Lauría, a native of Buenos Aires, is a widely published journalist who has written extensively for Noticias, the leading Spanish-language newsmagazine.
Follow him on Facebook @ CPJ en Español.